Sports

Following a series loss at the hands of Marist, the Monmouth University baseball team looked to rebound in their first four home games of the season.

Last week, the Hawks split decisions in four home games which included a matchup with Hofstra and a three-game set with Canisius.

The Hawks’ first home win of the season came in a 4-2 victory in the opening game of the series against Canisius. The Golden Griffins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a run batted in (RBI) double in the third inning. The blue and white wasted no time in responding in their half of the third.

The inning started with a leadoff double courtesy of senior infielder Justin Trochiano. Junior outfielder Kyle Norman capitalized on a successful sacrifice and laced an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at one. Senior infielder Shaine Hughes capped the inning off by driving in a run on a groundout, giving the Hawks the lead at 2-1.

Senior right-hander Ricky Dennis threw six strong innings, allowing his offense to go to work later in the game. Dennis struck out four and allowed only two earned runs in what turned out to be his second win of the season. “We’ve been working on having a presence and Ricky came through big,” said Head Coach Dean Ehehalt.

The Hawks’ offense went to work again in the fifth. Sophomore outfielder John LaRocca bunted for a base hit and the late throw to first was off-target. It allowed Norman to come home and score all the way from first base. Senior infielder/outfielder Pete Papcun provided the insurance in the next inning, launching his fifth homerun of the season to give the blue and white a 4-2 lead for good.

Men’s lacrosse improved their record to 4-5 on the season and 2-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play with a dominating 17-8 victory at Siena on Saturday.

It was a resounding bounce back from Monmouth who had fallen in a 9-8 overtime heartbreaker last weekend to conference foe Detroit Mercy.

Senior midfielder Chandler Vanderbeek got the scoring going early with his first goal of the season in the first minute of the game to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Junior Griffin Figel took it from there scoring in the third minute and extending his streak of recording a point in every game so far this season.

After freshman midfielder Casey Kimmel continued his impressive rookie season with a man-up goal of his own, Senior attack Bryce Wasserman remained red hot with his first of four goals and seven points on the day to give MU the 4-0 lead. The man-up goal from Kimmel was just one of four on the day for Monmouth who was an efficient 4-6 on extra-man opportunities.

As for Wasserman, the seven points was a career high which also equaled a program record that has only been achieved three times. Leading the Hawks charge isn’t something new for Wasserman as the senior leads the team with 22 goals on the year and 87 for his career. Not to mention it was his 12th career hat trick.

The Hawks went into the second quarter with a 5-1 advantage before the Saints found the back of the net twice to begin the new quarter. It didn’t take long however for Monmouth to regain control of the game as they responded in a huge way scoring the next ten goals, the last coming from junior attack Hunter Jones for his 14th of the season to make the score 15-3.

Softball crushed preseason Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) favorite Fairfield University with a 6-0 shutout in game one, and 8-2 in game two in opening games of the MAAC conference on Saturday afternoon.

In game one, senior right-handed pitcher Amanda Riley was a menace on the mound, pitching a complete game with 12 strikeouts, while sophomore right-handed pitcher Megan Stauffer picked up the game two win also pitching a complete game.

Head Coach Shannon Salsburg commented on the girls’ pitching performances. “Both pitchers threw outstanding today. Amanda [Riley] really shut them down in game one, and Megan [Stauffer] came in for game two and just got ground ball after ground ball. I couldn’t have been more pleased with their start.”

The Hawks took the lead early in game one with sophomore first baseman Kayla Rosado hitting a run batted in (RBI) single to right field, allowing senior outfielder Chloe Howerth to score. Howerth was able to score again twice more - once in the top of the third inning off of sophomore outfielder Amber Wozniak’s double, making the score 2-0, and again in the top of the fifth inning when senior outfielder Katie Baron hit a single and sent her home.

In the top of the sixth, the Hawks made the score the 6-0 shutout that they would eventually win with, starting with sophomore utility infielder Amanda Hopeck’s solo home run ignited the inning. Later, Rosado scored sophomore outfielder Sam Tomasetti on a groundout with bases loaded.

Women’s lacrosse team dropped their matchup over the weekend against in conference rival Marist, 14-3. The Hawks now stand at an overall record of 3-8 and 1-1 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Play.

Marist registered the first goal of the game in the 25th minute taking advantage of a Monmouth yellow card. Monmouth quickly responded with a goal from sophomore midfielder Chloe Novak a minute later. At this point both defenses buckled down and no team let up a goal for the next six minutes.

Marist would break the scoring drought with two goals each within two minutes of each other, to take the 3-1 lead. Monmouth’s senior midfielder Alexa Smith and sophomore midfielder Allison Turturro each scored to bring the Hawks to even with ten minutes left in the half.

Marist snatched back the lead moments later and Monmouth appeared to have tied it again off a goal by Smith, but it was recalled due to a crease violation. The Red Foxes pushed their advantage with three goals over the remainder of the half and it stood 6-3 Marist.

The narrative at this point was that both teams were evenly matched and neither able to grab a substantive lead. Both teams were nearly dead even in the statistics department. For instance, Monmouth recorded 14 shots compared to Marist’s 13.

The second half however was different story as the Red Foxes pulled away on the scoreboard. Marist would go on to score eight straight unanswered goals in the second half to firmly secure their win.

Head Coach Jordan Trautman said this after the game, “I’m really pleased with the effort the team showed for 60 minutes despite the situation we were in. It was 60 minutes of tough and gritty play and although the X’s and O’s weren’t there, we do have some positives to take away from this game and I know we can build some momentum from this experience.”

Following a difficult loss last weekend, the women’s lacrosse team bounced back with an impressive 14-8 win over in conference rival Quinnipiac on Saturday. With the win Monmouth improves to an overall record of 3-7 and a begins Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play 1-0.

Head Coach Jordan Trautman offered her thoughts on what winning the first conference game means. “It is huge to start conference play with a win, we had been talking about how important conference play is. So to say it and then actually show up with a win is going to help the momentum and confidence of the team,” she said.

The Hawks stormed out to an early lead and never looked back en route to their 14-8 home win. Seven different players scored and four had multiple goals in the effort. Senior attack Alexa Smith led the way with a team high four goals. Junior attack Jenny Staines and senior midfielder Claudia LaMarca also played exceptionally well, each contributing a total of five points in the win.

Monmouth took the early 3-0 advantage within minutes as Smith buried two straight goals right off the tip and Staines followed soon with the third. Quinnipiac got the on scoreboard at the 24:37 mark but Monmouth responded in fashion with a three-goal run to add some length to their lead.

The Bobcats reacted to their 6-1 deficit with two goals to close the gap to half. Both teams would exchange goals over the remainder of the half and the Hawks would go into the half with an 8-5 advantage.

Monmouth’s offense unleashed four straight goals right out of the half in large part due to two yellow card opportunities. Staines buried the first goal of the run and senior midfielder Caroline Corbliss added two goals of her own to make the score 12-5.

On Saturday afternoon, the men’s lacrosse team hosted Detroit Mercy at Hesse Field, dropping a 9-8 decision in overtime.

After opening Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play on March 17 with a win over Manhattan, the Hawks’ conference schedule continued with a matchup against Detroit Mercy, who had begun conference play with a win of their own over Marist.

At 10:31 of the first quarter, freshman attack/midfield Brock Anderson opened the scoring for the Hawks on the man advantage. The Lions would go on to score five of the next six goals in the first half, taking a 5-2 lead into the locker room. The only other Monmouth goal scored in the first half was by senior midfield Grier Wilson, who had tied the game at two at 11:32 of the second quarter before Detroit Mercy scored three unanswered goals to close out the half.

The Hawks came out storming in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 4-1 in the frame. Senior attack Bryce Wasserman’s fantastic season continued as he netted his sixteenth goal of the season at 12:25 to open the frame. After the Lions answered a few minutes later, making the score 6-3, the blue and white scored three unanswered goals of their own. The three goals came courtesy of Wasserman and junior attack Hunter Jones. Wasserman scored two of them to complete the hat trick and up his season goal total to 18.

Knotted at six goals a piece going into the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy opened the scoring in the frame at 12:16 with a man up, making it 7-6. Monmouth responded at 9:07 with a goal by junior attack Griffin Figel. Then at 5:14, Figel struck again with his eighth goal of the season, giving the Hawks the lead by a score of 8-7. With just six seconds left in regulation time, the Lions tied the game at eight, sending the game into overtime. Then, at 3:14 of the extra frame, the Lions ended the game and sealed a comeback victory by a final score of 9-8. The game-tying and game-winning goals for the Lions were scored by freshman midfield Brennan Kamish.

Monmouth baseball began conference play this past weekend going 1-2 in a three-game series at Marist. For the second week in a row, Wednesday’s afternoon game was cancelled due to weather conditions at Wagner.

The Hawks took the field early Saturday afternoon for the first game of a doubleheader where they gave senior Ricky Dennis the nod. Dennis would struggle on the day giving up five earned runs on 4.2 innings pitched. Luckily the MU bats had his back jumping off to the early 6-0 lead thanks to sophomore catcher Zach Schild’s RBI single in the first and senior right fielder Pete Papcun’s three-run homerun in the second. Schlid put together an impressive 3-5 day at the plate with two runs batted in (RBIs) while Papcun went 2-5 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored.

“Our lineup did an outstanding job of creating opportunities,” Head Coach Dean Ehehalt said. “We were able to somewhat get control of the game early with some clutch hitting and the ability to pitch out of trouble.”

Pitching out of trouble was exactly what the Hawks did once senior Austin Counsellor relieved Dennis, giving up only one run in 4.1 innings of work. After Marist cut the deficit to three in the second, Monmouth pieced together enough hits to plate five more runs of their own in the middle innings. The Red Foxes traded runs with Monmouth in the fifth and sixth to enter the final three innings of play down 11-5. From here Counsellor was too much for Marist, giving up only three hits on the day and sealing the 13-6 victory to open the three-game series and 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play. The win extended Monmouth’s perfect all-time record in opening MAAC games to 5-0.

Junior Joe Molettiere took the bump in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader giving up four runs on 5.1 innings of work while giving up a mere two hits on the day. Molettiere’s struggles came with his control as the story of the game were his seven walks.

The men’s golf team opened up season play with their annual Spring break trip to Port Saint Lucie Florida. There the hawks had the opportunity to prepare for the Florida Atlantic Spring Championship, which was their first tournament of the Spring season. The championship took place on March 23-25 and consisted of three 18 hole rounds. The event was played at Osprey Point Golf Club in Boca Raton, Florida. The course was a par 72 played at 6,786 yards.

The men finished the tournament with a 54 hole score of 883, landing the team in 14th place over all. The Hawks’ card featured 12 of 15 rounds of 75 or better, while the team led the field in pars.

Head coach Dennis Shea was very pleased with the men’s performance in this event. “Our team was very consistent throughout the tournament. It certainly was a very good start to our spring season and I am very pleased with the team’s performance this weekend,” he said.

Kyle Burke who led the Hawks for the first time this season and fifth time of his Monmouth tenure, set a new career 18-hole score (70) and 54-hole tournament (218). The senior, who sank an eagle over the weekend, finished with 38 even holes and six-under on par-5 holes. Junior Drake Ferriter matched his season low round with his pair of 73s while tying his 222 ties his career-best for a 54-hole tournament. The third-year Hawk finished two-under on par-4 holes and finished with 37 even holes. Glen-Michael Mihavetz and Ron Robinson played in their first 54-hole tournament. Mihavetz finished tied for first in the field with 39 even holes. Sophomore Andy Stock set a new career-low for a 54-hole tournament.

Coming into the week with a record of 2-3, the men’s lacrosse team split decisions in two road games against #19 Hofstra and Manhattan.

On Saturday, the Hawks opened Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play by paying a visit to the Jaspers in Riverdale, NY. The blue and white picked up the win in what was a high scoring affair by a final score of 12-8.

Monmouth started the game hot by scoring three first quarter goals courtesy of junior attack Griffin Figel, freshman midfield Rudy Beck, and senior attack/midfield Sean Tornetta. While the Hawks took a 3-1 lead into the second quarter over Manhattan, it quickly evaporated as the Jaspers responded with five goals in the frame. The Hawks tallied another three goals of their own in the second, however the game would be tied at six going into the half.

Monmouth came out of the half by outscoring the Jaspers 6-2 over the remainder of the game. The Hawks scored two goals in third quarter and tacked on another four to close out the game in the fourth. Figel added another goal with 8:44 remaining in the third to put the Hawks on top on the scoreboard for good.

Senior attack Bryce Wasserman led the Hawks on offense during the afternoon, scoring five goals and an assist. Four of the goals he scored came in the second half of the contest. In goal, freshman Noah Lode stood tall, making 12 saves.

Head Coach Brian Fisher admitted that his team wasn’t at their best in the second quarter before picking up their offense in the second half, “In the second quarter, we hit a little bit of a rough patch and I’m proud of our guys in how they responded in the second half. Our veterans, in particular, played really solid second halves and allowed us to pull away and win the game.” The win was Monmouth’s ninth straight (eight straight in regular season play) victory over MAAC opponents.